Problematizing Access to Quality Programs: Rejecting the Double Standards Between Refugees in Germany and the United States

• In Event: Toward a Humanizing and Equitable Discourse With Refugee Newcomers: Resisting the Double Standard

Abstract

The UNHCR (2022) reports that “the number of conflict-affected countries has doubled during the last decade, with women and children disproportionately exposed to deep-rooted discrimination and extreme vulnerability” (p. 5). The disproportionate impact on refugees is persistent in the sphere of education; not only do refugee students often find themselves in new environments that lack the resources to meet their “unique psychosocial, academic, and developmental needs” (Hos, 2016; Roxas, 2011), but in new environments are often actively hostile and discriminatory against them (Campbell III, 2017).
The recent refugee mobility has put many countries under considerable pressure to accommodate and integrate large numbers of refugees. Refugee students are a particularly vulnerable group due to their forced displacement, but their needs are not always met by education systems, which poses considerable challenges as the integration of refugee students in education systems is important for their academic outcomes as well as their social and emotional well-being. Educators in different parts of the world, such as Germany and the U.S. are tasked with the similar and complex task of teaching refugee students, many of whom may have experienced significant interruptions to their formal education.
The purpose of this study was to explore the educational practices and policies that are commonly used in K-12 schools in Germany and the U.S. The data sources included a survey that was administered to all school personnel about their experiences in working with refugees. Additionally, focus group interviews and individual interviews were held with teachers to address the needs of refugees. The results of this research showed that refugees in Germany vs. the U.S. are not treated equally. Recent events in Europe have brought to light a double standard faced by refugees in the difference in treatment they receive based on country of origin, race, religion, and more (Hauck, 2022). As recent turmoil in Ukraine has displaced over 7 million Ukrainians, now the world’s largest refugee group, Ghitis (2020) explains that

As millions of Ukrainians--white, Christian, European--are welcomed into the European Union and other Western countries, efforts have not let up to curtail migration from more distant countries, whose people are of different cultures, different religions and often different skin colors (p. 1).

The double standards between the Ukrainian vs. other refugees are clear in educational spheres. The papers in this symposium clearly present theoretical, practical, and research-based evidence in the area of refugees’ education across different contexts and is consistent with AERA’s theme of Interrogating Consequential Education Research in Pursuit of Truth, and provide clear implications for interrogation of the double standard among the refugees in different counties and offer practical implications on overcoming the double standard by adopting humanizing practices.

Author

• Rabia Hos, University of Rhode Island
  Presenting Author